A Liberal City Wins Fight Against EPA in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dealt a blow to the EPA's ability to regulate water pollution, and the city that started the fight might come as a surprise: It was San Francisco, and as the local Chronicle puts it, the "case pitted a city that champions environmental policies against the federal agency tasked with protecting the environment." The court ruled 5-4 against the EPA, with Amy Coney Barrett joining the three liberal justices in dissent. Details:

• San Francisco objected to regulations it deemed too vague about the discharge of raw sewage into the Pacific Ocean that sometimes happens after heavy rains, per the AP.
• The city says it's fine in obeying specific EPA limits on effluents set in advance, but it shouldn't be held responsible for broader "end-result" violations when water quality falls below EPA standards, reports the New York Times. The ruling could have sweeping implications for waterfront cities including Buffalo (on Lake Erie), New York City, Boston, and DC, notes the Washington Post.

• The EPA's rules would "make a permittee responsible for the quality of the water in the body of water into which the permittee discharges pollutants," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. "When a permit contains such requirements, a permittee that punctiliously follows every specific requirement in its permit may nevertheless face crushing penalties if the quality of the water in its receiving waters falls below the applicable standards."
• Barrett, in her dissent, argued that the "EPA is required to issue the limitations necessary to ensure that the water quality standards are met," per CNN. "So taking a tool away from EPA may make it harder for the agency to issue the permits that municipalities and businesses need in order for their discharges to be lawful."
• This is the latest in a recent string of environmental setbacks in the high court. Other rulings related to air pollution, the wetlands, and carbon dioxide emissions.

(More EPA stories.)